Periscope



A. B. HARRIS April 18, 1939.

PERISCOPE Filed Sept. 2, 1937 VEN TOR Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Joseph E. Seagram &

Sons, Inc., Lawrenceburg,

Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application September 2, 1937, Serial No. 162,102

1 Claim.

This invention relates to periscopes and more particularly to portable periscopes such as are commonly used in large assemblies or crowds to observe activities such, for example, as parades over the heads of intervening persons.

Heretofore devices of this type have usually been of heavy, cumbersome construction, difficult to carry and requiring considerable space to pack and ship large quantities thereof.

An object of this invention is to provide a light weight device of the type set forth which can be easily manufactured from cheap material, constructed and arranged to permit convenient packing thereof in a minimum of space whereby large quantities can be cheaply shipped and easily distributed.

These and other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in this particular art are accomplished by the present invention, one embodiment of which is shown for the purposes of illustration in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank cut from suitable material and adapted to be used to form a periscope in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation on an enlarged scale of the completed periscope.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a front view in elevation of the upper end of the periscope shown in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the completed periscope folded for packing.

The present invention provides a periscope which can be cheaply made from a one-piece blank cut or stamped from inexpensive material such as cardboard or the like. The arrangement is such that the finished article provides 40 extensive surfaces which can, if desired, be used to carry advertising displays or the like.

The illustrated embodiment is made, for example, from a blank 5 which, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is scored or otherwise provided with fold 45 lines 6 which divide the blank longitudinally into a rear wall section 1, side wall sections 8 and a front wall section 9. As illustrated, an adhesive receiving flap I0 is formed along the outer edge of the front wall section 9 for securing the blank in folded position.

A flap ii is formed at the upper end of the rear wall section 1 and a mirror I2 is secured to the inner face thereof. Wings l3 are formed on each side of the flap I I and are separated from the side walls 8 by cuts made along the lines H. Each wing has a shoulder l5 formed in the edge thereof.

A mirror-supporting flap i6 is formed at the bottom edge of the front wall section 8 and a mirror I! is mounted thereon. The lower mir- I ror-supporting flap It has a folding edge i8 and lip l9 at the bottom thereof. A tongue 20 is formed on the bottom of each side wall section 8 adjacent the fold line between the side wall and the rear wall portion 1. Sight openings 2| 1 are formed in the lower end of the rear wall 1. Obviously, these openings can be of any desired form and need not necessarily be the two separate openings illustrated.

The blank so formed is folded along the fold lines 6 and the adhesive-receiving strip I0 is glued or otherwise secured to the front edge of the side wall 8 in the manner shown in Fig. 2, thus forming an elongated rectangular periscope frame. The strips 20 are folded inwardly as inso dicated at the bottom of Fig. 3 and the lower mirror-supporting flap i6 is folded across the lower open end of the frame with the lip I9 inserted in the slot formed between the strips 20 and the lower end of the rear wall 1, see Fig. 3. 8 The arrangement is such that when the flap is in this position the lower mirror I! is at the correct angle for use. The wings l3 on the upper mirror flap are then folded inwardly so that the lower edges thereof are located within the peril0 scope frame and the flap II is then folded downwardly until the shoulders ii on the wings l3 engage with the upper edge of the front wall 9. This locates the upper mirror l2 at the proper angle for use and leaves a sight opening 22 in front of the upper mirror l2 above the upper edge of the front wall 9.

The inner surface of the frame may be provided with a black coating 23 to facilitate the use of the device as a periscope. In use, the 40 periscope is held so that the sight openings 2| are before the eyes of the user, the operation of the device being conventional.

As shown in Fig. 5, the device can be collapsed by extending the mirror-supporting end flaps H and I6 outwardly and then folding the rectangular body portion into the collapsed position illustrated. Obviously, in collapsed position the entire device lies substantially flat and large quantities can be packed and carried in a minimum of space, rendering them not only cheap to ship but easy to distribute in a crowd of people. When desired for use they can be readily extended and the flaps located in operative posi- I side walls, adapted to be extended to form a periscope frame or to be collapsed in flat compact form for packing, a. mirror supporting flap forming an extension on the end of one wall and foldable into the plane of said wall for packing or across the axis of said frame member for use as a periscope, a foidable wing on said flap havamazes ing a shoulder adapted to engage the outer edge of said frame member for holding said flap in operative position so as to provide a sight opening in the front thereof, a second mirror supporting flap forming an extension on the end of another wall at the other end of said frame member foldable into the plane of said other wall when collapsed or across the axis of said frame member when in position for use as a periscopc, a lip formed along one edge of said second flap for engaging said frame member when in operative position, and means cooperating with said lip to frictionally hold said flap in operative position,

ANTHONY B. HARRIS. 

